The News We Need

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has established the first Mayor's Office for LGBTQIA+ Affairs. He put Taylor Brown in charge of it, making her the first openly transgender person to lead a NYC office.

"She's gonna make sure that everybody gonna be somebody," said Rosetta Ferguson, Brown's grandmother.

Can't type anymore. Got something in my eye.

Spiteful Pete

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk. And the news has emerged during Pride Month.

It's safe to say Hegseth is telling gay people to shove it up our sequined asses.

This move is infuriating not just because Hegseth is wounding gay people and erasing LGBTQ military history, but because he himself is such a loser. It took him about five minutes in the job to reveal his incompetence through Signalgate. He talks like he's John Wayne, but at his core he's Yosemite Sam.

By way of explanation for this offense, Hegseth's office said, "Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all DOD installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos."

So we are to assume gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk wasn't part of our nation's history. Whose was he a part of, Peru's?

It's unknown what the new name of the fleet replenishment oiler will be. But if it needs to align with the Trump/Hegseth priorities, American history, and the warrior ethos, then it should be called the USNS Toxic Masculinity.

Who's Zoomin' Who

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On Sunday Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race. That evening over 44,000 Black women gathered on Zoom to galvanize support and money for Kamala Harris. The next night Black men did the same. Then came Latinas and South Asian women.

Yesterday a Zoom for white women set the record as the largest Zoom meeting ever, and crashed the platform. I chose to attend the "Out for Kamala Harris" Zoom rally instead, and somehow lasted all two-and-a-half hours, listening to LGBTQ celebrities and politicians extol the candidate.

How 2024 is this, using technology to bring together an assortment of demographic groups to raise enthusiasm and funds lickety-split?

It's been great, but the American people can subdivide only so far. The Harris campaign will need a new strategy by the time Zoom hosts a gathering of left-handed non-binary Laotian vegans.

I'm Confused

Image by Raquel Candia from Pixabay

There's been a settlement between plaintiffs and Florida officials over the infamous Don't Say Gay Law. Shannon Minter, the legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, declared, "This settlement is a huge victory for our community, both in Florida and nationally."

Meanwhile, the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed the agreement is "a major win against the activists who sought to stop Florida's efforts to keep radical gender and sexual ideology out of the classrooms."

Both sides triumphed? I guess the title of the most magical place on earth has shifted from Disney World to Tallahassee.